Chapter 80-Acquatic mutation detected

Chapter 80: 80-Acquatic mutation detected

’Did he just...’

Aymara froze. Her mind went blank and she couldn’t get air into her lungs. She wondered for a second if she had heard him correctly.

Nathaniel immediately became even more flustered beneath her stunned stare. His hand began to withdraw, but she caught it before he could pull away.

"You don’t have to," he rushed to add. "I just... I am talking nonsense."

"Yes," The single word stopped him.

Nathaniel stared at her, stunned. It was his turn to question whether he had heard her properly.

"Yes... you can."

Aymara’s cheeks had turned bright red but she didn’t look away. Her thumb brushed once over the back of his hand. A small reassurance that seemed to undo him more completely than her answer.

"Yes," she repeated. It was softer this time. "I want you to."

Something inside Nathaniel loosened. His eyes searched hers one last time, as though he needed to be absolutely certain she meant it. She did.

Slowly, almost cautiously, he lifted his hand. His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair away from her cheek before lingering there.

Aymara leaned into his palm, her eyes fluttering shut, and the small movement nearly undid him.

His thumb traced the dampness beneath her eye and her hand tightened around his.

The gesture was tender. It made the air between them had become charged, every breath drawing them closer.

Nathaniel’s gaze fell to her mouth again. Aymara’s lips parted slightly, and his restraint thinned to its final thread. He leaned closer.

Aymara’s eyes softly shut. Their breaths mingled. His nose brushed hers, and both of them went still.

For one suspended heartbeat, neither of them pulled away from the other.

Nathaniel’s thumb rested beneath her cheekbone, his other hand still locked with hers, as though he needed the contact to keep himself from rushing the moment. Aymara tilted her face toward him, her lips hovering just beyond his.

The distance between their mouths became impossibly small. Her heart raced and his did too.

She could feel the warmth of his breath against her lower lip. He could feel the faint tremor that passed through her when his mouth nearly touched hers.

For one suspended moment, the world outside the room ceased to exist.

There was no apocalypse, destroyed cities, raging ocean and no enemies but only the two of them.

Nathaniel tilted his head slightly and began closing the final inch between them.

Aymara’s fingers tightened around his. Her lips parted, ready for him. But just then, a warning sound came.

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!

The alarm detonated through the ship.

"Aaah!" Aymara screamed.

Nathaniel recoiled so violently their foreheads cracked together. The room plunged into pulsing red light as emergency strobes ignited, and the door slammed shut with a brutal metallic bang.

A shriek of twisting metal tore through the bulkheads. The floor bucked beneath them. The kiss moment vanished.

Aymara’s eyes flew open. "What now?" She was irritated to the core.

Nathaniel stared at her, stunned, one hand pressed to his forehead. Then the ship’s emergency system erupted at full volume.

[WARNING!]

[Massive hostile organism detected approaching the vessel.]

[Threat level: EXTREME.]

[Unknown aquatic mutation detected.]

A second alarm shrieked over the first. The ship lurched.

BOOM!

The walls convulsed around them. The bedside table shot across the floor. A glass launched from its edge, flashed once in the red light, and burst against the metal deck.

Nathaniel reached for Aymara. She seized his hand just as another impact hit before either of them could steady themselves.

BOOOOM!

The entire ship heaved sideways. Their feet flew out from under them. Aymara slammed into Nathaniel, and he caught her hard against his chest as the vessel groaned like something alive and wounded.

Nathaniel’s face paled. "What’s is going on?"

Aymara turned toward the reinforced window. "What the hell is that?"

A shadow swept across the glass. It blotted out the darkness beyond it, swallowing the moonlight and turning the window into a wall of moving blackness.

Nathaniel’s breath stopped.

The shadow was enormous. Facr too enormous to belong to any ordinary sea creature.

Aymara rushed toward the window. The moment she looked outside, her pupils contracted.

Something was rising from the dark ocean. At first, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Then one enormous tentacle erupted from the waves.

It burst from the sea with a thunderous surge, sending curtains of black water cascading through the air.

It was thick enough to crush a vehicle, its surface slick and glistening beneath the emergency lights. Grotesque ridges ran along its length like armored vertebrae as it rose higher and higher, curling around the side of the ship with slow, deliberate strength.

Another tentacle appeared one after another. The ocean churned violently around them, boiling white where the creature’s limbs tore through the waves.

Aymara slowly lifted her gaze. Her blood ran cold.

A monstrous octopus was rising from the sea. It was so enormous that its body alone appeared to be the size of a small hill, a heaving mass of dark flesh emerging from the depths.

Its grotesque tentacles stretched across the water like living bridges, each one long enough to wrap around entire sections of the cruise ship. Its enormous, mutated eyes glowed faintly through the darkness, two sickly embers fixed upon the vessel, while its massive beak opened and closed with a wet, horrifying snap.

Water cascaded from its body in roaring sheets. The ship looked tiny beside it, almost insignificant.

Nathaniel stared in horror. "Aymara..."

She didn’t answer his call. Her fingers tightened into a fist. The creature suddenly raised one of its massive tentacles.

The limb rose above the ship, blotting out the flashing lights and hanging there like a descending tower. Water streamed from its ridges, drumming against the hull.

For one terrifying second, it hovered there without moving.

CRASH!

The tentacle slammed against the outer hull.

The entire vessel shook violently. The window rattled in its frame, and a deep metallic boom rolled through the room like thunder trapped inside the walls.

Aymara stumbled. Nathaniel immediately caught her around the waist and the alarm continued screaming.

[WARNING! HULL IMPACT DETECTED.]

[DEFENSIVE BARRIER ACTIVATED.]

[HOSTILE ORGANISM ATTEMPTING TO BOARD VESSEL.]

Aymara stared at the enormous creature outside. Just moments ago, she had been worried about a kiss with her childhood best friend and now she was staring at a monster large enough to crush her entire ship.

Her expression hardened. "So much for romance."

Nathaniel blinked. Despite the terrifying situation, a faint flush returned to his face when he heard her.

"Who said anything about romance?" He tried to play it off and act nonchalant but the tips of his ears had turned pink.

Aymara glanced at him. "Oh, so do you kiss all your friends the way you tried to kiss me?"

She tightened her grip around his hand. "And if not then... wouldn’t you call this a romance?"

Outside, the monstrous octopus raised another tentacle, the ship’s alarm screamed louder and this time, Aymara was ready.

"Let’s fight this mutant first," she whispered. "We’ll figure out the rest later. To the control room."